# Dr. Borg — The Red Room character guide

> Dr. Borg in The Red Room by August Strindberg.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Dr. Borg, Borg, Henrik Borg, the redoubtable Borg

**First appearance:** 0002-iii-the-artists-colony

## Snapshot

A physician who works by lamplight on hanged men, Borg is the Red Room's redoubtable cynic and keeper of its darkest curiosities.

## Who they are

Borg inhabits the infirmary at Kingsholm, where he dissects the mutilated body of a suicide and greets late-night visitors with an offer to see an old friend. He is the colony's sardonic anchor, the man whose composure never cracks even as he leads Falk and Sellén through creaking doors by candlelight. His willingness to traffic in corpses and secrets makes him both indispensable and unsettling, the conscience the bohemians pretend not to need.

## Relationships

### [Arvid Falk](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_red_room_se/characters/arvid_falk)

_friendship_

Dr. Borg is a friend and mentor figure to Arvid, offering medical advice and worldly wisdom.

### [Arvid Falk](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_red_room_se/characters/arvid_falk)

_friendship_

Dr. Borg is a friend and mentor figure to Arvid, offering medical advice and worldly wisdom.

### [Arvid Falk](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_red_room_se/characters/arvid_falk)

_friendship_

Dr. Borg is a friend and mentor figure to Arvid, offering medical advice and worldly wisdom.

## In the story

### [From Churchyard to Public-House](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_red_room_se/chapters/xix-from-churchyard-to-public-house)

Borg attends the funeral, drinks punch, and helps direct the burial.

### [Hard Times](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_red_room_se/chapters/xxii-hard-times)

Manipulative and aggressive; breaks up Sellén's floor for firewood and orchestrates Falk's loan with Levin.

### [XXVI: Correspondence](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_red_room_se/chapters/xxvi-correspondence)

Author of the letters; treats Falk with a detached, scientific attitude and manipulates his recovery.

### [XXVII: Recovery](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_red_room_se/chapters/xxvii-recovery)

Corresponds with Falk and is a regular at the Red Room, approving of Falk's boisterous mood.

### [XXVIII: From Beyond the Grave](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_red_room_se/chapters/xxviii-from-beyond-the-grave)

Leads Falk and Sellén to view Olle's body, reads Olle's suicide manuscript aloud, and drinks grog.

### [XXIX: Revue](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_red_room_se/chapters/xxix-revue)

Author of the letter to Sellén, reporting from Stockholm.

### [XXX: Epilogue](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_red_room_se/chapters/xxx-epilogue)

Visits briefly with Levin, representing the skeptical, scientific view of marriage.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_red_room_se/characters/dr_borg
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_red_room_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_red_room_se/characters